Commonwealth v. Barrett
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment on the Gen. Sts. c. 160, § 17, charging that Robert Barrett and Patrick Keleher, both late of Lawrence in this county, “being inhabitants and residents of this state, to wit, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” on July 11, 1870, “by a previous appointment and engagement, made within this state, to wit, at said Lawrence, did leave this state, to wit, the Commonwealth aforesaid, and on said eleventh day of said July feloniously and wilfully did engage in a fight,…
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Indictment on the Gen. Sts. c. 160, § 17, charging that Robert Barrett and Patrick Keleher, both late of Lawrence in this county, “being inhabitants and residents of this state, to wit, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” on July 11, 1870, “by a previous appointment and engagement, made within this state, to wit, at said Lawrence, did leave this state, to wit, the Commonwealth aforesaid, and on said eleventh day of said July feloniously and wilfully did engage in a fight, with each other, without the limits of said Commonwealth, to wit, at Salem in the county of Rockingham and state of New…
1Opinion of the CourtMobton, J.
It is the general rule that, where an offence is created by statute, an indictment or complaint is sufficient which charges the offence in the words of the statute. Commonwealth v. Raymond, 97 Mass. 567. There is an exception to the rule, where the words of a statute may, by their generality, embrace cases falling within its literal terms, which are not within its meaning or spirit. In such cases, the offence intended to be made penal is ascertained by reference to the context, and to other statutes in pari materiá, and the indictment or complaint must allege all facts necessary to bring the…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Commonwealth v. RaymondMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1867
- State v. BierceSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1858
- Johnson's v. Wiseman'sCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1863
- Whiting v. StateSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1842
- Commonwealth v. DohertyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
3Cited by25 opinions
- Teeters v. FrostSupreme Court of Oklahoma · 1930
- Commonwealth v. DillMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1894
- Commonwealth v. ConnellyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1895
- Moulton v. ScullySupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1914
- Commonwealth v. BeaulieuMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1912
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